Anti-Prison Resources

Nothing exemplifies the sickness and degradation of the present society more
than its criminal justice system, a cold-blooded infliction of suffering on
a scale that far surpasses whatever offenses its victims may have been
guilty of.

Think how long an hour can seem if youre caught in some boring or frustrating
situation — then imagine being locked away not for an hour, or a day, or a week,
but for years in a mean, ugly, hopeless environment administered by
guards and officials who are in many cases more vicious and mentally sick than
most of your fellow prisoners,
who themselves may not be the most charming or uplifting of companions. And to
add to the torment, knowing that a considerable portion of the people on the
outside have been led to believe that you are being coddled, and that
light sentences of only a few years amount to getting off easy.

Meanwhile, in the name of cutting
government expenses, demagogic
politicians slash modest social programs that might provide at least some
“at-risk” young people with alternatives to poverty and despair, while simultaneously supporting what amounts to an immense government subsidy
of lifelong slave labor in the modernized gulags they are spending billions of
dollars to build. This trend is developing its own self-perpetuating momentum,
reinforcing and being reinforced by those who have a vested interest in the
rapidly expanding prison-industrial complex.

Even
supposing that these gulags actually reduced crime or rehabilitated criminals
(they do neither), they are a crime against humanity. If a social system can
function only at the cost of making the lives of millions of people a living
hell, I say to hell with that system.

It doesnt have to be that way. A liberated society could easily
do away with the whole prison system. The vast majority of crimes are directly
or indirectly related to money and property and would become meaningless with the elimination
of capitalism. Communities would then be free to experiment with
various methods for dealing with the rare antisocial acts that might still
occur. I dont claim
that there would be no problems, only that there would be far fewer problems than
there are now, when people who happen to find themselves at the bottom of an
absurd social order are harshly punished for their crude efforts to escape
while those at the top loot the planet with impunity.

Even within the present society, it would be possible to immediately free
all the prisoners who are incarcerated for victimless crimes (drug use,
consensual sex); to significantly reduce the prison terms for most
other crimes; to emphasize rehabilitation rather than
punishment; to improve prison conditions; and to eliminate all forms of physical and psychological torture. As
well as to equalize the
laws and their enforcement. We rarely see the
law-and-order demagogues do anything serious to crack down on bank fraud,
political bribery, false advertising, real estate speculation, labor
exploitation, war profiteering or environmental destruction, to say nothing of
the mass murderers who run many of the worlds states. If such people were
jailed as readily as petty thieves, prison conditions would be
improved soon enough.

There are many forms of engagement that I encourage you to consider:

Help prisoners directly (corresponding with them, sending them money, books
and other needed supplies, helping with their legal cases).

Take part in volunteer projects to teach
prisoners to read, to meditate, or otherwise improve their lives while theyre
incarcerated and to prepare them for when they get out.

Help them make the transition when they get out.

Support movements to free political prisoners, including the obscure as well as
the
famous.

Work to repeal draconian laws and to undermine the irrational
witchhunting mindsets against scapegoats (“terrorists,” drug fiends, child molesters) that tend to encourage such laws.

Work with Amnesty International or other watchdog groups to pressure
authorities to abandon torture and other inhumane practices.

Make others aware of the hellishness of prison conditions and of the
insidious power of the prison-industrial complex.

Challenge the social system
that produces all these horrors.

In order to avoid burnout, I recommend focusing on one or two projects that
particularly appeal to you. If you do not feel like taking part personally,
consider contributing to others who are doing so. Here are some relevant links: